Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendation on ethnicity pay gap reporting in paragraph 35 of the guide entitled Considering Social Factors in Pension Scheme Investments, published by Taskforce on Social Factors in October 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government published guidance in April 2023 which sets out how employers can measure, report on, and address any unfair ethnicity pay gaps within their workforce. This was an action from our ambitious Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022.
We have no plans to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay reporting. Instead, we want to encourage and support those employers who want to use ethnicity pay reporting to improve transparency and build trust among their employees.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 21 March 2022 where she stated that they reserve the right to introduce legislation for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting "at a future point, if and when the reporting tools are sufficiently developed, effective in driving positive change and accessible to more businesses" (HL Deb col 722), whether they still remain open to doing so.
Answered by Lord Gascoigne - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government published guidance in April which sets out how employers can measure, report on, and address any unfair ethnicity pay gaps within their workforce. This was an action from our ambitious Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022.
We have no plans to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay reporting. Instead, we want to encourage and support employers who want to use ethnicity pay reporting to improve transparency and build trust among their employees. We are engaging with employers and representative bodies to promote the new guidance. We will also seek case studies from those that are already reporting on their ethnicity pay data, so that others can benefit from their experience.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) It was a Conservative Government who introduced gender pay gap reporting, building on the robust equal - Speech Link
2: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) In relation to ethnicity pay gap reporting, the noble Baroness will be aware that this gap is 2.3%, much - Speech Link
3: Baroness Goudie (Lab - Life peer) There is mandatory reporting —although there needs to be more—but when are the Government going to get - Speech Link
4: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) The mandatory reporting applies to companies with more than 250 employees. - Speech Link
Written Evidence Oct. 17 2023
Committee: Treasury Committee (Department: HM Treasury)Found: The dashboard shows that since the implementation of the mandatory gender pay gap reporting, gender
Written Evidence Nov. 22 2023
Inquiry: Impact of the rising cost of living on womenFound: Extend gender pay gap reporting to organisations with 50 or more employees and a introduce a requirement
Mentions:
1: Marsha De Cordova (Lab - Battersea) We know the impact that mandatory pay gap reporting can have on tackling low pay and in-work poverty, - Speech Link
2: Kemi Badenoch (Con - Saffron Walden) We have no plans to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting—no plans to introduce disability - Speech Link
Written Evidence Nov. 22 2023
Inquiry: Impact of the rising cost of living on womenFound: gap and pay discrimination.
Written Evidence Nov. 22 2023
Inquiry: Impact of the rising cost of living on womenFound: BITC’s gender pay gap reporting dashboard shows that the mean average pay gap across all reporting
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government taking to help close the (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) disability pay gap.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Over the last decade the gender pay gap has fallen by approximately a quarter and mandatory gender pay gap reporting has helped motivate employers to improve workplace gender equality. To accelerate progress we have supported legislation to: enhance flexible working, extend redundancy protection for those on maternity leave, and introduce carer’s leave.
On ethnicity pay gaps; in April this year we published guidance for employers on how to voluntarily calculate and publish their ethnicity pay gaps. This will allow businesses to report accurately and in a consistent manner, and to address any unfair ethnicity pay gaps within their workforce.
With regard to the disability pay gap, we recognise that one of the greatest challenges is opening up opportunity in the workplace. In March 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper. This sets out how DWP will: support more disabled people to start, stay and succeed in work.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps the Government has taken to close the (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) disability pay gaps.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Over the last decade the gender pay gap has fallen by approximately a quarter and mandatory gender pay gap reporting has helped motivate employers to improve workplace gender equality. To accelerate progress we have supported legislation to: enhance flexible working, extend redundancy protection for those on maternity leave, and introduce carer’s leave.
On ethnicity pay gaps; in April this year we published guidance for employers on how to voluntarily calculate and publish their ethnicity pay gaps. This will allow businesses to report accurately and in a consistent manner, and to address any unfair ethnicity pay gaps within their workforce.
With regard to the disability pay gap, we recognise that one of the greatest challenges is opening up opportunity in the workplace. In March 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper. This sets out how DWP will: support more disabled people to start, stay and succeed in work.